DIY fitness: Take your own road to getting in shape

Wednesday

Extras like health club memberships are often the first to go in tough economic times. Luckily, staying fit and healthy doesn’t mean you have to join a gym or hire a personal trainer.

“Absolutely, you can do it on your own,” said Julie Sanfilippo, a registered dietitian at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, Ill. “We always say getting into shape requires small changes over time. You need to work to make permanent lifestyle changes. Start slow, build healthy habits and maintain them for the rest of your life.”

Laurie Meissner, a hospital colleague and exercise specialist, added, “My advice is to increase your everyday activities and make fitness a part of your daily routine.”

Meissner and Sanfilippo offered the following tips to getting fit on your own:

Extras like health club memberships are often the first to go in tough economic times. Luckily, staying fit and healthy doesn’t mean you have to join a gym or hire a personal trainer.

“Absolutely, you can do it on your own,” said Julie Sanfilippo, a registered dietitian at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, Ill. “We always say getting into shape requires small changes over time. You need to work to make permanent lifestyle changes. Start slow, build healthy habits and maintain them for the rest of your life.”

Laurie Meissner, a hospital colleague and exercise specialist, added, “My advice is to increase your everyday activities and make fitness a part of your daily routine.”

Meissner and Sanfilippo offered the following tips to getting fit on your own:

Exercise

- Consult a doctor. Before getting started, it’s important to talk with a physician to ensure you’re healthy enough to kick-start an exercise program. Improper dieting and extreme fitness can lead to health problems, so be safe.

- Make exercise part of the day. If you can’t fit in a workout, there are plenty of simple ways to get exercise. Park your car at the far end of the lot and walk in. Take the stairs. Do some work in the yard. By making it a habit, exercise will be easier.

- Cross train. Pick exercises you enjoy, but to really get in shape, choose a variety of activities such as weight training and cardio workouts. You’ll increase the odds of working different muscle groups and vary the amount of aerobic and anaerobic exercise.

- Start slowly and build your workout to avoid burnout. Take your time -- your health is a lifelong activity. You can’t go from coach potato to athlete overnight.

- Bring the gym home by purchasing a few dumbbells and using them for bicep curls, tricep extensions and shoulder presses. Combined with isometric exercises, at-home workouts with dumbbells can be every bit as good as a gym workout. Also, do push-ups in front of the TV, install a chin-up bar in a doorframe, or pop in an exercise video (rented from the library).

- Try something new. Now that the weather is warmer, try something different such as in-line skating, tennis, basketball or rock climbing — anything that gets you moving. Dust off your bike and go for a ride. Buy yourself a new pair of hiking boots. Join a softball team or a running club.

- Exercise outside the box. Most people think of exercise as a workout in the gym all geared up in athletic apparel, but it doesn’t have to be. Exercise can also be pulling weeds in the yard, playing tag with the kids, taking a brisk walk with the dog or thoroughly cleaning the house.

- Don’t go overboard. Don’t skip exercising just because you can’t commit a lot of time to it. At least 20 minutes of uninterrupted cardiovascular exercise is necessary to burn fat as the primary source of fuel. You’ve got 20 minutes to get in shape. Make it a priority.

- Avoid injury. Regardless of your workout choice, one truth applies to all: Preparation can prevent injury. Be sure to warm up before exercising to gradually get your body ready for exercise. Then, stretch after the warm-up, focusing on the muscles you’ll be using. A good stretch will lengthen and strengthen muscles.

Nutrition

- Go for a clean start. Clean out your food environment — the refrigerator and pantry — at home to get rid of temptations and trigger foods. There are so many temptations at work, school and on the road that you don’t need to fight those battles at home.

- Breakfast is the right way to start the day. People believe they’re saving calories by skipping the first meal of the day, but that strategy very often leads to people overeating later in the day. A healthy breakfast will kick-start your metabolism.

- Be a proactive grocery shopper. Do the majority of your shopping in the perimeter of the store. That’s where the healthiest food is, including the produce department, deli counter, dairy, meats and seafood. Be cautious when shopping the middle aisles, which are packed with tempting treats.

- You need protein. Adequate protein intake is required to build muscle. Look for good sources of protein (chicken breast, turkey breast, egg whites) and try to consume 25 to 30 grams of protein at each meal.

- Eat small and often. Several small, nutritious meals should be eaten throughout the day. Eat as often as every three hours to keep your body’s metabolism revved up throughout the day. This way, you won’t feel deprived or hungry.

- Be simple and sensible in your diet. Eat unprocessed foods. Eat more vegetables. Especially in America, people do not pay attention to serving sizes. Read food labels. A serving size of meat needs only to be the size of a deck of playing cards. Eat light food, not foods that are heavy or greasy.

- Be structured and slow. Make eating and snacks a routine in an effort to cut out mindless grazing. Eat slowly. If you’re scarfing down your meals, you’re probably overeating because it takes a while for the brain to get the message you’re full. Eat until you’re almost full, then stop and wait 20 minutes. Often, your hunger will go away.

- Snack healthy. For some people, cutting out snacking is impossible. So instead of grabbing the chips, good choices are fruits, veggies, yogurt or dried fruit. But don’t deprive yourself. A small amount of chocolate occasionally will keep you happy and sane.

- Find low-fat alternatives. Can’t live without chips? Choose baked varieties. Going to a barbecue? Bring along a veggie burger to grill. If you haven’t tried all the soy alternatives now available, you will be pleasantly surprised at how tasty they are.

- Don’t drink your calories; drink water instead. Liquid calories can be sneaky. Soda, coffee, tea, juice and especially alcohol contain calories that many people don’t realize or count. Water is the perfect weight-loss drink and it comes right out of your tap.

More ideas

- Have an exercise plan. You wouldn’t build a house without a plan, so don’t build your body up without one either. In your plan of action, decide on exercises that work different parts of the body you want to improve.

- For better results, keep a training journal. A detailed log of exercise habits and food intake provides a wealth of information. A training log will allow you to look at your exercise routine and see ways to change and improve. Studies show that people who keep track of what they eat lose twice as much weight as people who don’t.

- Don’t forget to stay hydrated. Healthy people should drink six to eight cups (64 ounces) of decaffeinated, unsweetened liquid a day. Water is great, but so are Crystal Light or low-calorie Vitamin Water. If you’re dehydrated, you’ll be tired and less likely to exercise.

- Count your steps with a step counter or pedometer. Keeping track of how much you’re moving is a great way to stay motivated and move more. The surgeon general advises people to accumulate 30 minutes of activity most days of the week, and that’s roughly equivalent to 10,000 steps a day.

- Set realistic goals. You won’t be doing yourself any favors if you try to reach impossible goals. Plan and log your workouts. Work hard and stay with it.

- Partner up. Having a workout partner is a great motivating factor for most people and makes exercising more fun. Ideally, workout partners will be equally matched and be able to challenge each other.

- Go for it! Take a chance, set a goal and push your athletic boundaries. Move your exercise to the next level by participating in an event you’ve never done before. You’ve always wanted to try a triathlon, right? No? How about laps at the pool or 3-on-3 basketball tournament?

- Bring your lunch to work. Packing your own lunch allows you to take control over what you eat. A recent study also showed it will help you save money — up to $3,000 a year.

- Get plenty of rest. Just like mom used to say, getting a good night’s sleep is good for the body. Sleeping for a full eight hours allows the body to rejuvenate physically and mentally.

- A healthy body is more than just being fit and trim. Be good to yourself in other ways: Practice good posture. Reduce work-related stress. Show affection to others. Have a positive outlook. Take care of a pet or a plant. Spend a little time outdoors each day. Smile!

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